His Perfect Match
by HPITBBE
Summary: How does Sirius help James believe again that Lily Evans is the one? “Does it have to do with how to destroy Voldemort?” James asked unflinchingly…Sirius grinned. “Close.” R&R?
1. The Proposition

**Disclaimer: I own nothing that is JKR's, obviously. **

**SUMMARY: How does Sirius help James realize Lily Evans is the one? "Does it have to do with how to destroy Voldemort?" James asked unflinchingly…Sirius grinned. "Close." R&R?**

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"You make me sick, Potter!" Lily Evans roared. Barely any Gryffindors looked up. As a matter of fact, some of them, who had been peacefully reading a book or playing chess, sighed, irritated, and promptly ended their respective activities to witness the argument without interest. Some first years, who after being introduced to the new Heads, were wondering why they were suddenly at odds with each other.

"Yes, well, sometimes you make me sick too!" James shouted back, his glasses slightly askew, glaring at her so hotly his glasses threatened to fog up.

"If you're sick of me so much, then leave me alone and never talk to me again!" Lily retorted hotly. A first year stared unabashedly at the feud gaining fire before his eyes.

"You're not the boss of me, Lily Evans!"

"You're right, I'm not. _You_are! You're the boss of James Potter, bloody Gryffindor, and the whole bloody world!" Lily screamed hoarsely.

"Is that after you relinquish _your _control?!" James asked loudly, sardonically, looking at her impossibly beautiful face.

"You're insufferable!" Lily said heatedly, and threw her hands in the air exasperatedly. She felt the eyes of her peers on her, and was suddenly hit with a startling realization that she was Head Girl and she was openly quarreling with her counterpart. She closed her eyes and tried to find her cool zone, the zone where the world was bigger than her and stupid James Potter's argument; in other words, the real world.

"And you're bossy," James said coolly, raising an eyebrow, ready for a petty name-calling competition.

Lily opened her eyes. He was tickling her magma-zone again. "I don't have time for this," Lily said briskly and turned around in a huff to walk up to her dormitory. "And fix your glasses, Potter, they're askew and you look ridiculous," she told him icily as her voice faded.

"I'll show you ridiculous," James mumbled, fixing his glasses roughly and knocking them off his nose in the process.

A round first-year giggled and quickly hushed at the look on James's face. Naïve as he was, according to the older students, you do not want to be on the receiving end of any of the Marauder's wands.

He sauntered forward and handed James his glasses, to the surprise of the latter.

"Remind me to give you a SYS pass, Harvey," James mumbled.

"What's that?" Harvey asked, his face contorted into confusion.

James chuckled weakly and said, "A Seventh Year Superiority pass. We, the cruel seventh years, take advantage of you, ickle first years."

Harvey beamed.

---

James quietly opened the door and shut it as softly as humanely and magically possible. He winced when he heard the faint _click_,and he looked nervously at the beds to see if any of the marauders had even twitched. Or rather, at Remus and Sirius, because he could count on Peter to be sleeping soundly at any time of day as soon as his eyes were closed for a brief amount of time.

He tiptoed across the room and carefully took off his robes and his shoes. Leisurely, James climbed onto his bed and knew by the strong presence of heat that it was too good to be true.

"Good morning, mate," Sirius whispered, his face about an inch from James's own.

James groaned silently and then sighed. "Go to sleep, Sirius," he pleaded.

"As soon as you kindly step back," Sirius said. Then he raised a finger and leaned in slightly to sniff. "Fire-whiskey? Without me?" he asked, insulted.

James stayed silent and climbed off his bed. He figured it was going to be a long night and aimed his wand at all the candles to light them. It radiated a soft, comfortable glow and James suddenly felt warm, and finally at home in Hogwarts.

He glanced at Remus's bed, and wasn't surprised to see him move. It amazed James that a sudden shift in wind or a degree in temperature could wake him up. Which made James getting to his bed without Remus moving such a remarkable feat.

"Turn off," Remus started, but stopped to yawn and stir uncomfortably in his sheets, "the candles," he finished tiredly.

"Yeah, because you can turn off candles, Moony," James humored quietly. "None of the candles are lighted," he whispered.

Remus yawned again and raised a brawny arm. "I may be sleeping, James, but I'm not blind. And I meant extinguish." His arm dropped again.

"Would it help you sleep better if you were?" James asked seriously.

Then it all happened too fast for James to react. His wand was firmly in Remus's hand in a split second, and the werewolf's head was now up, looking weary and apologetic at the same time.

James could barely speak as he looked at his best friend in utter and complete shock. He managed to sputter, "Did you just _disarm _me?" He didn't know what was more surprising: the fact that Remus just - and completely unprovoked! - disarmed him, or, the fact that he reacted quickly enough that James didn't feel a thing, until of course, he noticed the absence of his most powerful weapon.

Sirius was holding his stomach in a close embrace as he struggled not to laugh out loud.

"Well, you were threatening to deprive me of my sight so I reacted instinctively," Remus said quite casually, now almost fully awake; his eyes darted from James and his empty hands to his own almost comically, as if he himself couldn't believe what had happened. "I did so, blindly, of course," he said jokingly, finally settling his eyes. James didn't laugh.

"Well," James said, looking Remus in the face. "Can you give me back my wand!" Then he looked at Peter briefly, and looked back again holding his breath.

Peter laid still in his bed, almost lifeless. Sirius went quickly to check his pulse and curtly raised his thumb, indicating his good health. James exhaled and glared at Remus again as if nothing had happened.

"What were you planning, exactly?" Remus asked cautiously.

"_Obscuro,_" James said impatiently. "Hand it back, Moony. I feel naked without it." He held out his hand expectantly.

Remus rolled his eyes and threw it back at him. "Why did you come in so late?"

"How'd you know?" James asked curiously.

"I'm a werewolf. Super-sensitive ears is one of the many perks," he said dryly. James smiled weakly and Sirius looked ready to burst.

"He drank fire whiskey!" Sirius said in a rush, grinning from ear to ear the same way a little brother would when he exposed his sister's sexual exploits to his mother.

James pursed his lips and just looked down.

"Lily?" Remus guessed. James nodded and heard Remus's head make contact with his pillow.

"I'm sorry," Remus said, his voice muffled by his pillow. "But it does get awfully repetitive after a while, and there's only so much I can do."

James stood up assuredly. "You're exactly right. Which is why tonight I officially declare that I, James Potter, am over Lily Evans," he said simply.

Remus put his pillow over his face and screamed, a bloodcurdling, wolf-like howl. His friends saw his chest heave slowly.

"Blimey, Moony," Sirius said, in awe. James had his mouth opened in ill-disguised shock.

"I'm through with this, Prongs. I'm passing the baton on to Sirius," Remus declared once he came back, flushed, from his mini-breakdown.

Sirius grinned brightly and said rather solemnly, "And I shall do my best to honor the baton and serve it's purpose faithfully."

"It's just an expression, Pad." James said, a flicker of concern in his eyes.

"Shush, James, and Remus, go to sleep."

"Sirius, as long as those damn lights are on, I don't see how -"

"_Obscuro,_" Sirius snapped impatiently.

"- I can possibly go to sleep," he finished lamely. He rubbed his eyes and flipped around so that he was on his stomach and hugged his pillow. "Just leave me alone," he grumbled, slowly leaving the room to a serene slumber.

"Now," Sirius said in a business-like tone when he heard Remus's soft snoring. "What is your proposition?"

"To get over Lily Evans…and is that really necessary? It's not cool."

"Yes it is," Sirius said regally, conjuring a leather chair and sitting down comfortably on it. "What is not cool is that you're the one wearing the glasses."

James did a double take and looked at him like he'd dropped his mind somewhere in a bubbling cauldron.

"And what, dare I ask, does my glasses have to do with getting over the love of life? I mean, former?" he stressed.

"I'm the one helping you, therefore I should look crisp and professional, and you should look lost and sloppy. Mind you, you look like hell right now even with the glasses, so it doesn't seem like such a loss," he said bluntly.

On any other day James would have hexed him and enjoyed a good, fair duel, but now with new conviction he told Sirius, "I want to get over Lily. Now."

"I thought you said she was your former love of your life. But I get your point." Sirius nodded patiently and looked intently at James. "Why, how, and by when?"

"I don't need a bloody shrink, Sirius, I need my best mate!" James growled. "And why don't I get a chair?"

Sirius wagged his finger at an incensed James and shook his head. "You can sit on the floor. Young wizards with your temper can slash the fine material of these chairs or hack off an arm with one mighty hack of your jaws," Sirius said tersely. "And secondly, I am helping you, if you stop being a prick and let me do what I do best."

"Honestly, Pad, how the bloody hell do you expect me to take you seriously when you're wearing - _my underwear?!_"

Sirius blushed faintly but held up his nose as he said defensively, "The snitches on yours are more animated, they move with more gusto. My snitches lay limp, stranded on the printed grass like dead starlings."

"They sounds incredibly perverted."

"Only to the filthy minds."

"Okay, can we stop discussing my underwear?" James snapped.

"I didn't initiate it. But okay. First things is first…why?"

James looked at him, confused. Sirius snapped his finger impatiently and said, "Why do you want to get over Lily Evans?"

James gnawed on his lip and concentrated on Sirius's shoulder. "I don't think I can take anymore."

"Anymore of what?"

"Everything, the fact that she'll never love me back," James said almost impassively.

"I notice your deadpanned tone," Sirius observed, raising his eyebrow in a way that James felt uncomfortable with. "It sounds repetitive to you, doesn't it? Why should this time be any different than first year, second year, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth?"

James leaned back, remembered with a jolt that he had nothing to lean against, and swiftly felt a sharp pain in his skull. His head throbbing, he glared at Sirius who remained at his seat, undeterred.

"One who falls, must learn how to pick themselves up," he said with an air of ancient wisdom.

"Oh shut it," James mumbled, and winced when he tried to lift his head.

"So why should I believe that this year is different?" Sirius prompted, ignoring his best friend groaning in pain.

"Because," he said, wincing again as he raised his head. "Something just feels off."

"You think it's off because your heart is so damaged, you poor thing."

"And I'm not sure," he continued loudly, disregarding Sirius. "Maybe because like I said before, I can't take it anymore and I want to try different girls."

"Maybe that's why Lily can't stand you," Sirius said disgustedly, abandoning his ancient-wise man façade. "You act like girls are ice cream or something."

"You know I didn't mean it like that, Sirius," James said quietly, a little stung that Sirius would think he was that shallow.

"I believe you," he said simply, a complete flip from two seconds before. "So who did you have in mind? Anyone in particular?"

"Several," James admitted sheepishly.

"Really?" Sirius said. He was quiet, pensive, and tapped his wand against his lap distractedly. "Well, I've came up with a conclusion," he said finally.

"Does it have to do with how to destroy Voldemort?" James asked unflinchingly, thinking about the way Sirius exclaimed his epiphany, and how it sounded like he did. Sirius grinned.

"Close."

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**Second chapter should be up by tomorrow. Otherwise, review?**

**Please be honest, and be constructive (: I'd appreciate it. **

**Hm, that should be my new motto. Be Honest, Be Constructive. BHBC.**

**:D**


	2. Barking Up the Wrong Tree

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Disclaimer: All I own is the plot and my flavor, as always.

Read and review?

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"So," James said after a pause. "What's your conclusion? Your epiphany? Your -"

"Don't ridicule me, Prongs," Sirius said. "I conclude that, no matter what you may feel, no matter whom you date, no matter how hard you try, you will never, ever, ever get over Lily Evans, because she is…the one," he proclaimed proudly, looking satisfied.

James was quiet before he said softly, "Yeah, I figured you'd say something like that. I thought she was the one, too. You'd think we'd be together by now, now that I'm Head Boy and I haven't been as much of a git and everything. She still hates me, and I'm beginning to think whether it's worth it."

"Of course Evans is worth it," Sirius said incredulously. "You've been on her arse for six years, she's _obviously _worth it. And when you get over your pansy-fit you'll realize that again."

James ruffled his hair, and exhaled loudly. "I can't help but think what would happen if I had dated someone else and see if I feel that same spark that I felt."

"That you feel," Sirius corrected. "And you're never going to find a girl that's your perfect match. It's inevitable that you and Lil get together, so just let fate ride its hippogriff and it'll come around on your side of the fence and eat your rotting ferrets."

James contemplated this (and Sirius's rather odd metaphor). Then he stood up and with a wave of his wand conjured a reclining blue chair. He sat on it and told Sirius, "What if there is someone else? What if all I need to do is find my perfect match?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, irritated. "Did you listen to me at all or did were you thinking about Evans," he snapped. "You're not going to find your perfect match if her name isn't Lily Evans! But, for the sake of this therapy session," James shot him a look that said he clearly resented this, "tell me who you think your perfect match is." He leaned back, and crossed his arms, silently telling Prongs that he would shoot down any suggestions.

James pursed his lips while he sat quietly.

"You told me before that you had several girls in mind, or did you forget?"

"They were just afterthoughts at the time, but now I'm actually considering them," he said thoughtfully.

"And? I'll listen and tell you why they just will not work. Ready?" Sirius asked, again leaning forward.

"Alice Prewitt," James said.

"Why?" Sirius asked, wrinkling his nose.

"She's a bit reserved and shy, but she is intelligent, and patient - it attracted me to her for a while," James said defensively. Sirius considered him for a long moment before saying, "I can tell you two things wrong with that.

"One, Longbottom would kick your arse to London and back," James's face lit up with this obvious fact, "and second, I know what you're trying to do," he said smugly.

"Alice is a nice girl, but it completely slipped my mind about Frank. Frank fancies her too much. How about Estelle? And I'm not trying to do anything," James stressed.

"See!" Sirius said loudly, pointing at him accusingly. "Estelle is patient, brilliant, and level headed!"

"So?"

He just shook his head and grinned. "You don't want a girl to fill in the gaps of your own twisted personality, James. That's just not right. It won't work," Sirius said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"I just want to explore outside of my comfort zone," he said airily.

"Think about it. That's like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. As good as they fit together, they can just as easily break apart," he said shrewdly. James looked puzzled.

Sirius sighed and rolled his eyes. "Take potions for example. If you put in whatever you need to put in to make the Draught of Living Death, and apply the instructions that goes and fits with the first part, you make a potion that kills you, in this case, that kills your relationship."

James pondered this before saying slowly, "So you're saying, I need to find the wrong instructions, and the potion won't kill me." Sirius nodded curtly, looking pleased.

"You're mental. And The Draught of Living Death doesn't even kill you, it sends you into a deep trance." James said, and Sirius brushed this information aside saying, "It mimics death or something, Slughorn said something about it. Anyway, any other lady?"

James said calmly, "How about Sandra O'Reilly?"

"Sweet Merlin, _no!_" Sirius exclaimed loudly, standing up furiously. Then he coughed uncomfortably and sat down again roughly. "'Scuse me," he said gruffly when James narrowed his eyes.

"I tutored her briefly, in fifth year. She's very, err, bold and a bit uptight but she's very, very nice on the eyes," James said, his eyes drifting back to that day in fifth year.

"She's the anti-Potter,' Sirius said firmly. "There's a difference between filling in the gaps and trying to go out with your opposite. You don't want that! Opposites never attract!"

"Lily?" James responded coldly.

"We'll get to her later. She's a different brand altogether," Sirius said dismissively. "Anyone else?"

"Marlene McKinnon," James said, flushing a bit. "She always seemed like just a really good Quidditch player to me, but since I made captain, I've had to watch her more carefully, you know, and she's really, she's just very," he couldn't finish.

"Interesting," Sirius said, stroking his chin shrewdly. "You're flushed and tongue tied. But I'm afraid what you feel for her is mostly lust, and will turn platonic soon enough. She's athletic, cute and laid-back. In other words, if you had a sister, her name would be Marlene Potter."

"I would never look at her like a sister," James insisted. "I genuinely do like her. She's different from other girls, she just is. She's not exceptionally gifted with a wand, but I've never seen a guy, much less a girl, swing a bat the way she can." He relaxed into a goofy grin.

"You don't like Marlene, you think you do," Sirius said patiently.

"You know what? Now that you mention it, I reckon I fancy her," James said with the air of an important revelation. "And I think she likes me too." Sirius clenched his jaw as he sensed James was leaving him, and quickly.

"Prongs!" Sirius yelled. "Snap out of it."

"There's nothing to snap out of," James said evenly. "Marlene is pretty, she's loud, she's laid-back and she understands me, and my fascination with Quidditch."

"You're being ridiculous. She's too much like you, and the complete opposite of Lily. Is that why you fancy her, James?" Sirius asked coldly. He was fed up with his denial.

"If Marlene is exactly like me, and Lily is the opposite of Marlene, then why should me and Lily be together, since according to you, _opposites never work?_" James challenged.

"You don't get it! You don't understand what you and Lily have! You can't just throw that away because you're under the illusion that you like Marlene!"

"I'm not joking, Pad. If there is one girl that can effectively take me away from Lily, it's Marlene! She's kind, understanding, and makes my heart float. Lily makes my heart sink and some days, I feel like I have my bloody heart caught in my kneecaps!"

"You're being completely thick! You will never work with Marlene!" Sirius shouted and stood up. James followed suit and stood head to head with his best friend. "It's like Polyjuice Potion!" Sirius exclaimed wildly. "If I were to take your hair or Marlene's -"

"Oh, stop it with the stupid potion analogies!"

"Maybe if you weren't so thick -!"

"Why do you want to set me up for more heartbreak?" James asked faintly, ache wrapped around his voice like a scarf.

"You're going to find yourself breaking a hell of a lot more when you go out with Marlene and find out that she's just a thinly disguised attempt to find a substitute for Lily!"

James set his jaw. "For the last time, I may not feel for her what I felt for Lily, but I'm sure as hell going to try to make it work," James hissed.

"Why! Because of the heartbreak? You've felt that for the last six years!"

"What if I've just had enough? I told you, I'm sick of it!" James choked out. He swallowed hard and breathed heavily. Sirius gritted his teeth and watched his best friend crack. He couldn't push him anymore, but he could make him think.

"You're questioning, whether Lily is worth fighting over anymore," Sirius said softly, looking at James who looked dead set on knocking him out. "But since when is Marlene worth letting go of Lily?"

"It'll be worth it," James said forcefully, but even his eyes betrayed false faith.

"You asked before," Sirius said earnestly, "why I think you should never ever let go of Lily, and why even though she is your opposite you should still go after her.

Lily is your opposite, you are her opposite. She fills your gaps, and you fill in hers. You guys will never mesh perfectly together, but you share common interests and beliefs. You compliment each other. You guys don't just co exist, you exist around and in each other. I know it sounds like a load of dung, but try to understand me for the last fucking time, you fool. You will never find two smooth fragments of wood rub, and create fire. And damn it Prongs, Marlene and you are as smooth chunks of wood as I will ever see in my life," Sirius finished hotly.

"I second that," Sirius heard Peter grumble sleepily.

"Shut it, Wormtail. And you did not just call me a tree," James said sharply, glaring at Sirius.

"No need to go off on poor Pete, and I called you a piece of wood, but you can be a tree if it floats your boat," Sirius said, staring him down.

"Wait, why is he awake?" James asked, quickly shrinking back to size. Sirius shrugged angrily then furrowed his eyebrows, too.

"Why _are _you awake, Wormtail?" Sirius asked curiously.

Peter yawned and stretched. "Well, unless I'm mistaken, in about fifteen minutes I should be heading down to breakfast…"

James's jaw dropped as he looked at the room around them. It was considerably brighter than a few hours before. He looked at Sirius, who was as aghast as he was at having lost the time.

"Mornin' Mum and Dad," Remus greeted dryly with a towel around his neck to catch the water dripping from his hair. "Better go shower, we leave in around fifteen minutes," he sad casually.

"Who took off your blindfold?" Sirius asked.

"Peter," he said simply. "Where's the Map?"

"Over there," James said numbly, pointing to his trunk. "What the hell?" he said, referring to Sirius, their previous argument long forgotten.

He shrugged and Peter said, "Well, no use crying over spilled potion."

"Don't talk to me about potions," James grumbled and stalked off to the shower.

---

"This year doesn't seem too bad," Sirius said conversationally, looking at his timetables.

"Double History of Magic today!" James moaned, looking at his friends.

"Good luck," Remus said, "I have Runes," he said smugly. He stabbed his egg with his fork and watched the yolk dribble out slowly.

"Evans," Peter murmured, nodding towards the door. She was moving towards his table, most likely to her friends on the other end. James jerked his head back and stuffed his toast in his mouth. "Watch," he muttered quickly and jumped off the table. Sirius grinned knowingly and looked back. When Lily became within ear shot of the marauders, James said with his hands in his pockets, "Alright, Evans?"

Lily narrowed her jade eyes at him and told her friend to go along. She held her books to her chest and surveyed him with distaste.

"What do you want, Potter?" she asked wearily.

"Hey now," James said good-naturedly. He threw her a dazzling smile. "I was just wondering whether you'd like to have lunch with me," he asked smoothly. He saw her eyes narrow even more and he vowed to stop with the jokes; the more she narrowed her eyes the less of her beautiful orbs he would get to see.

"Bugger off, Potter, you know my answer is no," she said coldly, and moved past him.

"Watch your tone Evans, you don't want to bark up the wrong tree!"

Sirius snorted into his pumpkin juice and ended up with the whole drink in his face, but he didn't mind. He happily gave James a high five and gave a thumbs up to the students who were openly laughing at him. "Good one, Prongs," he laughed. James shrugged modestly and looked around to find napkins for Sirius. "No napkins," James muttered. "Remus?" He shook his head and looked amusedly at Sirius, who had pumpkin juice dripping from his nose.

"Hey, kid," Sirius said to a plump first year, "hand me a napkin, will you, and your pumpkin juice," Sirius said, holding out his hand.

James smiled and "Don't listen to him," to the first year. He grinned and turned back to talk to his equally plump friend.

"What was that for?" Sirius asked, using the napkins Peter gave him to dry his face.

James shrugged. "Sorry. I promised Harvey I'd give him a SYS pass."

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**Review?**

**And sorry for the crappy ending, I'll try to explain. **

**I didn't want James to suddenly hug Sirius and say "You're right! Lily Evans _is_ the one," and then go into a love-sick daze. I thought it would be better for him to still keep it James, and keep it humorous. I wanted to show that when he looked like he hadn't listened to Sirius, he did listen to him and acted like I thought he would. **

**In other words, teasing Lily a little to show that he still hadn't given up on her (:**

**(P.S -I just HAD to have Harvey and the SYS pass come full circle)**

**;)**

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